Orphan Black Renewed for a Fifth and Final Season

This is bittersweet news if we've ever heard it. Orphan Black has been renewed for another season, but it will be the last, and Clone Club will officially come to an end after the fifth season.

There's been an increasing trend of shows, especially twisty dramas, planning ahead for their ending rather than trying to continue forever. And although we would love to see Tatiana Maslany play a thousand characters on our screens for many more years, the convoluted nature of the show means that a planned ending will be much more satisfying than a rushed, haphazard one. As BBC said in their press release (via io9):

We are excited to deliver an epic conclusion to the tale of Sarah and her clone sisters. The past four seasons have been a phenomenal adventure and we are eternally grateful to our loyal fans who have loved the twists and thrills of our weird little show. We are thankful to our partners at Temple Street, and to BBC America and Space for their support and giving us the opportunity to end on a high.

So we're very sad that Orphan Black is ending, but at the same time happy that it will go out on its own terms. While the fourth season has done wonders in simplifying the mythology, the show still isn't really built to go for a long time, and we'd rather they write a proper ending than drag it out until the premise wears thin.

Orphan Black's fourth season finale airs tonight at 10pm on BBC America. The fifth and final season is expected to air in 2017.